Skirt-hanger.



MARGARET I-I. STODDARD, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS. i

SKIRT-HANGER.

To all 'whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, MARGARET II. S'ron-y Dann, a citizen of the United States, residing at 18 Temple street, Boston, in the'county of SuiTolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certainv Improvements i'n Skirt- I'Iangers, of which the following'descrilr tion, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like reference characters on the drawings indicating like part-s in the several igures.

According tothe usual practice of handling womens skirts in retail stores, each skirt is suspended on a hanger, and the skirts, when not beingpshown, are kept in a case or compartment which is provided with a horizontal rod on which the hangers are supported in a row.` These hangers' usually consist merely of the ordinary garment hanger provided with two hooks on the lower side of the hanger bar near its oppo` site ends, which serve to support the two loops with which a skirt ordinarily isprovided. In showing these garments to a customer the salesgirl must of course remove them from the case or compartment in which they are kept, and after the customer has made a selection, the other garments are returned to the case, usually by boys who are employed simply to do this work. In the handling of these garments in this manner it is a very frequent occurrence for the skirt loops to slip ofi' the hooks on which they are supported, thus allowing the garment to fall on the tloor. This frequently happens also while the garments are being put away in the cases or 'compartments in which they are kept, or are being handled incidentally to the selection or removal of some other garment. They thus get trampled under foot in the rush of waiting on customers at very busy times; they become crumpled and their salability is greatly impaired. In fact the loss which is sustained due to this cause by any department store or retailing establishment handling garments of this character, reaches very substantial proportions in the course of a year.

It is the chief object of the present invention to devise a skirt hanger that will overcome the difficulties just described, which can he economically manufactured, and which will fulll the practical requirements of an article of this character.

The manner in which it is proposed to ac- Specicaton of Letters Patent. Application inea April 2s, 191e. ysei-iai No. 94,264.

Patented apr. 9, 1918.

complisli these objects will be readily understood from the following description, refer- ,l

ence beingmade to the figure of the acco m panying drawing which shows, in sideielevation, partly in section, a skirt hanger embodying the invention in the form nowpre-` ierred.

The skirt hanger shown in the drawing comprisesr a hanger bai' 2 o' the usual shape,

equipped with a hook l by means of which it may be suspended in the usual manner'. This hanger barmay be made of any suitable material, but in the y form shown is made of wood, and is grooved on its lower .side near its opposite ends to receive two blocks 6 and 7, which are mounted to slide toward and from each other. The escutcheon plates 8 and 9 screwed to thelower face of the hanger bar retain the blocks 6 and '7 in the grooves formed for them; and these plates are each slotted to permit the passage therethrough of the shanks of two hooks l0 and ll,.which are supported, respectively, by the blocks 6 and 7. The blocks are backed up by helical compression springs l2 and 13, respectively, which forces them yieldingly away from each other and consequently tend to maintain the hooks 10 and l1 at their maximum distances apart. The two loops L at the opposite' sides of the hooks 10 and ll, and the springs 12 and 13,

Vskirt S are Apositioned respectively on the acting in the manner justY described, tend to"k keep the skirt loops taut at alltimes.V

When these hangers with the skirts on them are picked up to return them to the cases, in the mannery above described, they are likely to be tipped at various angles, since the boy doing ythis work usually has several of these hangers in each hand. The tipping of the hangers in this manner, and the consequent shifting of the weight of the skirt from one loop to the other, causes these loops to slide around on the hooks on which they are supported, and the hooks ordinarily used are so constructed that the loops can easily escape from them. In order to prevent this action I prefer to use a safety hook of some type. A great many constructions of hooks obviously mayv be employed for this purpose, the requirement being that they shall be so constructed and arranged as hooks when desired. In the construction shown, each hook has a Vshape, one leg of the V being turned in so that its end lies very close to the other leg; and a small projection, indicated on the two hooks 10 and 11 at 14: and 15 respectively, is provided on the straight leg of each hook just below the end of the inturned leg. rilhis projection is so Vpositioned that it will deflect the loop, if it slides up the straight leg, on to the inturned end portion of the v.bent leg and thus will prevent the loop from sliding out of the opening in the hook. Any other construction of hook, however, may be used that will meet the requirements above indicated.

lt is obvious that in using the construction above described the springs 12 and 13, by pressing the hooks l0 and ll constantly away from each other, will tend to maintain the skirt loops L so taut as to prevent the presence of enough slack to enable either loop to slip off its hook. Furthermore, by

using a Ysafety hook of some suitable construction all possibility of the loops escaping accidentally from their hooks is substantially eliminated.

v l/Vhile l-have described and shown the form of the invention now preferred by me, it is obvious that the invention may be embodied in other forms diii'ering in details from that shown, while still retaining its essential features and characteristics. l do not, therefore, desire to be limited to the precise details of the construction shown.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

l. A skirt hanger comprising a hanger bar, two hooks constructed to support the loops of a skirt andV depending from said bar near its opposite ends, said hooks being mounted for sliding movement on the bar toward and from each other and being constructed to prevent the accidental movement of the loops of the skirt through the openings in the hooks, and springs withinsaid bar acting on said hooks to force them yieldi ingly away from each other.

2. A skirt hanger comprising a hanger bar,two hooks constructed to support the loops of a skirt and supported by said bar near its opposite ends for movement toward and from each other, said hooks pointing away from each other and having means constructed to prevent the accidental movement of said loops through the openings in the hooks, and springs acting on said hooks to force them yieldingly away from each other.

8. A skirt hanger comprising a hanger bar, a pair of blocks mounted in vsaid bar near its opposite ends for sliding movement toward and from each other, said bar being constructed to form a guideway for said blocks, two springs acting respectively on said blocks to force them yieldingly away from each other, and a hook carried by each block and constructed to support the loop of a skirt and to prevent the loop from escaping accidentally from the hook.

ln testimony whereof l have signed my name to this specification.

,MARGARET H. STQDDARD.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Gommissoner of Patents, Washington, D. Cl. 

